Official MMA discussion thread pt 3 UFC 300: Pereira vs Hill, Zhang vs Xionan, BMF Gaethje vs Holloway

[j4remi]

ONE's card for Friday is pretty stacked

Eersal, Superbon and Holzkein all on the card for anyone into kickboxing and Muay Thai

Good news for us Muay Thai fans: ONE is holding an open-weight grand prix with a million-dollar grand prize. All I'm asking is for another Rodtang vs Haggerty fight

https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023/01/one-championship-announces-16-man-openweight-muay-thai-grand-prix

[MrDollarBills]

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[j4remi]

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This is so awesome. I was frustrated with how MMA promoters tried to throw him under the bus, and a lot of MMA media fed into it. He proved everyone wrong when he beat Stipe Miocic for the belt. Then he did it again when he beat Cyril Gane on a torn ACL. Then he got the PFL contract and Tyson Fury fight. Now he's got an Anthony Joshua fight.

Someone needs to be writing the screenplay for this guy's story. It's incredible.

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[MrDollarBills]

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This is so awesome. I was frustrated with how MMA promoters tried to throw him under the bus, and a lot of MMA media fed into it. He proved everyone wrong when he beat Stipe Miocic for the belt. Then he did it again when he beat Cyril Gane on a torn ACL. Then he got the PFL contract and Tyson Fury fight. Now he's got an Anthony Joshua fight.

Someone needs to be writing the screenplay for this guy's story. It's incredible.

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Right??? This is an amazing story. And look, the fact that he went from making a high six figures to seven cannot be understated.

He gave the Gypsy King the smoke, can't wait to see how he fares versus Joshua

[HarthorneWingo]

What's going on with Merab these days? I haven't seen him fighting in awhile ... possible since this crazy fight against Marlon Moraes.

Watch on YouTube

[MrDollarBills]

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The Japanese fans want the cheater Nery to bleed after what he did to Yamanaka. Should be fun to watch

[j4remi]

What's going on with Merab these days? I haven't seen him fighting in awhile ... possible since this crazy fight against Marlon Moraes.

Watch on YouTube

Long Version:
After Moraes, Merab kinda fell out of favor with the fans. He fought Jose Aldo, but all he did was shoot and tangle Aldo against the cage. So, the beloved Aldo retired from MMA after being held against the cage for 15 minutes without taking damage but losing nonetheless. Then Merab did the same thing to Petr Yan. He spent the majority of the match-up stalling Yan in the clinch without threatening or making any meaningful attacks.

So, Merab derailed two very well-liked fighters with extremely boring tactics. All the while, he talked a bunch of trash but did no damage. He was next up for the belt but refused to fight Sterling, because they're teammates. Now, Merab's fighting boring fights AND holding up the division. This pissed off everyone from fans to Dana White.

But the silver lining came as Suga Sean O'Malley KO'ed Sterling. Now, there was a chance for Merab to fight for the belt...except, nobody cared to watch Merab try and stall his way to a belt. Especially not when O'Malley could fight Chito Vera instead. UFC booked the fight fans wanted and left Merab out to dry.

Without a title fight, Merab had to accept another number-one contender's fight instead. That means Henry Cejudo in February.

Short and sweet version:
Merab refused to fight Aljimain for the belt, and the UFC punished him by taking away his title shot. Now he's gotta beat Henry Cejudo to earn a title shot.

[j4remi]

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The Japanese fans want the cheater Nery to bleed after what he did to Yamanaka. Should be fun to watch

Japan has some seriously passionate fight fas. That arena is gonna be INTENSE.

[HarthorneWingo]

What's going on with Merab these days? I haven't seen him fighting in awhile ... possible since this crazy fight against Marlon Moraes.

Watch on YouTube

Long Version:
After Moraes, Merab kinda fell out of favor with the fans. He fought Jose Aldo, but all he did was shoot and tangle Aldo against the cage. So, the beloved Aldo retired from MMA after being held against the cage for 15 minutes without taking damage but losing nonetheless. Then Merab did the same thing to Petr Yan. He spent the majority of the match-up stalling Yan in the clinch without threatening or making any meaningful attacks.

So, Merab derailed two very well-liked fighters with extremely boring tactics. All the while, he talked a bunch of trash but did no damage. He was next up for the belt but refused to fight Sterling, because they're teammates. Now, Merab's fighting boring fights AND holding up the division. This pissed off everyone from fans to Dana White.

But the silver lining came as Suga Sean O'Malley KO'ed Sterling. Now, there was a chance for Merab to fight for the belt...except, nobody cared to watch Merab try and stall his way to a belt. Especially not when O'Malley could fight Chito Vera instead. UFC booked the fight fans wanted and left Merab out to dry.

Without a title fight, Merab had to accept another number-one contender's fight instead. That means Henry Cejudo in February.

Short and sweet version:
Merab refused to fight Aljimain for the belt, and the UFC punished him by taking away his title shot. Now he's gotta beat Henry Cejudo to earn a title shot.

Remi with the behind-the-scenes 411. Masterful.

[MrDollarBills]

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The Japanese fans want the cheater Nery to bleed after what he did to Yamanaka. Should be fun to watch

Japan has some seriously passionate fight fas. That arena is gonna be INTENSE.

Ohhh yeah. They're going to be rabid. I fully support God Hands Inoue avenging his countryman.

[MrDollarBills]

Here is footage of Inoue at 12 years old knocking someone out cold, head gear and all.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Boxing/s/f8C3BN1H3M

Jesus christ man. This guy was born to deliver punishment.

[HarthorneWingo]

260 lb. Bradley Martin gets taken down by 160 wrestler at gym.

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[j4remi]

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[HarthorneWingo]

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Is Jim Miller a UFC Hall Of Fame candidate? I heard The Count and Lionheart discussing it on “Believe You Me”. (I love saying that )

[j4remi]

Is Jim Miller a UFC Hall Of Fame candidate? I heard The Count and Lionheart discussing it on “Believe You Me”. (I love saying that )

He's 100% a HoF'er for me. At his peak, he was only one or two wins away from a title shot, and his longevity is literally the best in UFC history. He's all over the record books:
- Most fights in UFC history (and the only active fighter close is Arlovski)
- Most wins in UFC history
- 2nd All-time in finishes
- 2nd All-time in submission wins
- 4th in Win Bonuses
- Most submission attempts by a massive margin (Miller has 48; Oliveira's second with 40; the next 5 guys are retired; then the next active fighter is Darren Elkins with 25).

I know everyone's making the biggest deal out of Miller fighting on UFC 100, 200, and now 300 (knock on wood). But it's his ridiculous amount of records that really stand out. He's not just sticking around to lose. He's won 5 of his last 6 fights, so he could still stack those records a bit more if he chooses to.

[HarthorneWingo]

Is Jim Miller a UFC Hall Of Fame candidate? I heard The Count and Lionheart discussing it on “Believe You Me”. (I love saying that )

He's 100% a HoF'er for me. At his peak, he was only one or two wins away from a title shot, and his longevity is literally the best in UFC history. He's all over the record books:
- Most fights in UFC history (and the only active fighter close is Arlovski)
- Most wins in UFC history
- 2nd All-time in finishes
- 2nd All-time in submission wins
- 4th in Win Bonuses
- Most submission attempts by a massive margin (Miller has 48; Oliveira's second with 40; the next 5 guys are retired; then the next active fighter is Darren Elkins with 25).

I know everyone's making the biggest deal out of Miller fighting on UFC 100, 200, and now 300 (knock on wood). But it's his ridiculous amount of records that really stand out. He's not just sticking around to lose. He's won 5 of his last 6 fights, so he could still stack those records a bit more if he chooses to.

I'm going to try a baseball HOF argument here to see if it fits ... Isn't Miller's number one accomplishment is his longevity and that his statistics of a "compiler"? I'm mean, are there any other UFC fighters in the HOF who never won a title? There are a lot of fighters who were "two fights away from a title fight".

[j4remi]

Is Jim Miller a UFC Hall Of Fame candidate? I heard The Count and Lionheart discussing it on “Believe You Me”. (I love saying that )

He's 100% a HoF'er for me. At his peak, he was only one or two wins away from a title shot, and his longevity is literally the best in UFC history. He's all over the record books:
- Most fights in UFC history (and the only active fighter close is Arlovski)
- Most wins in UFC history
- 2nd All-time in finishes
- 2nd All-time in submission wins
- 4th in Win Bonuses
- Most submission attempts by a massive margin (Miller has 48; Oliveira's second with 40; the next 5 guys are retired; then the next active fighter is Darren Elkins with 25).

I know everyone's making the biggest deal out of Miller fighting on UFC 100, 200, and now 300 (knock on wood). But it's his ridiculous amount of records that really stand out. He's not just sticking around to lose. He's won 5 of his last 6 fights, so he could still stack those records a bit more if he chooses to.

I'm going to try a baseball HOF argument here to see if it fits ... Isn't Miller's number one accomplishment is his longevity and that his statistics of a "compiler"? I'm mean, are there any other UFC fighters in the HOF who never won a title? There are a lot of fighters who were "two fights away from a title fight".

I think the baseball approach is a tough sell for MMA. Plenty of fighters stuck around in MMA for a very long time; but they all fell off. Most fighters had a nice climb, a short peak, and proceeded to fall off pretty fast. So in MMA, we've always valued longevity a bit more than some other sports.

My case in point would be that Cowboy Cerrone is in the HoF. He never held a belt but fought a LOT. His long-running success as one of the best, but not THE best, in an elite division got him in. Which is to say; a lot of fighters have been two fights away from a title. Not many have had 10+ years of being that close, and none are sniffing the amount of records Miller has except for former champs like Oliveira and Holloway.

[HarthorneWingo]

He's 100% a HoF'er for me. At his peak, he was only one or two wins away from a title shot, and his longevity is literally the best in UFC history. He's all over the record books:
- Most fights in UFC history (and the only active fighter close is Arlovski)
- Most wins in UFC history
- 2nd All-time in finishes
- 2nd All-time in submission wins
- 4th in Win Bonuses
- Most submission attempts by a massive margin (Miller has 48; Oliveira's second with 40; the next 5 guys are retired; then the next active fighter is Darren Elkins with 25).

I know everyone's making the biggest deal out of Miller fighting on UFC 100, 200, and now 300 (knock on wood). But it's his ridiculous amount of records that really stand out. He's not just sticking around to lose. He's won 5 of his last 6 fights, so he could still stack those records a bit more if he chooses to.

I'm going to try a baseball HOF argument here to see if it fits ... Isn't Miller's number one accomplishment is his longevity and that his statistics of a "compiler"? I'm mean, are there any other UFC fighters in the HOF who never won a title? There are a lot of fighters who were "two fights away from a title fight".

I think the baseball approach is a tough sell for MMA. Plenty of fighters stuck around in MMA for a very long time; but they all fell off. Most fighters had a nice climb, a short peak, and proceeded to fall off pretty fast. So in MMA, we've always valued longevity a bit more than some other sports.

My case in point would be that Cowboy Cerrone is in the HoF. He never held a belt but fought a LOT. His long-running success as one of the best, but not THE best, in an elite division got him in. Which is to say; a lot of fighters have been two fights away from a title. Not many have had 10+ years of being that close, and none are sniffing the amount of records Miller has except for former champs like Oliveira and Holloway.

I agree. The nature of the sport changes things. Definitely.

So, what's going on tomorrow night? Anything?

[j4remi]

I agree. The nature of the sport changes things. Definitely.

So, what's going on tomorrow night? Anything?

We've got a UFC PPV, but it's got so much mid on it that I wonder if the UFC wanted to hide Strickland and Du Plessis' cringefest. If you haven't seen the oddball press conference moments, it's been an experience .

Anyway, the headline is your boy Sean Strickland against Dricus Du Plessis and that's actually a really intriguing fight, and the opener is almost makes up for the rest of the card's lightwork. Some quick stuff on the fights:


The big one:
Sean Strickland vs Dricus Du Plessis: Two of my least favorite personalities are also two of the most talented middleweights on the planet, in one of the strangest style clashes I can think of.

Everyone's kinda woken up to Sean Strickland at this point. He's got really disciplined boxing despite low hands, and his takedown defense is great. He's recently sitting down on punches more effectively which added power to his volume game. Dricus is also a volume striker with power, but he's more mobile and sloppy. I think of him like a disciplined brawler who throws ugly stuff but with a plan. He's also low-key really good at grappling, with an impressive array of chokes that he can apply (he has more submission wins than KO's).

Generally speaking, the styles play into Strickland's hands. Dricus wastes a lot more energy, and Sean's style is perfect for punishing looping strikes. But Strickland's manic behavior has me nervous enough not to bet. He cried on the Theo Von podcast, of all places, cursed out a journalist, and had some really awkward face-to-face moments with Dricus. The title comes with a lot of pressure, and I want to see him keep it together before I trust him...he is my pick though, and if he loses, i think it'll be from getting too reckless and losing his typical discipline. I could picture him losing to a choke out of a scramble.

Co-main event is a smoke break
Raquel Pennington vs Mayra Bueno Silva: With the bantamweight title vacant, these two are fighting to compete for the belt. But that kinda shows how weak the division is. Pennington is a jack-of-all-trades master of none, who's no stranger to boring point-fights. Bueno Silva has decent submissions and pop, but nothing eye-opening.

It's a bit of a coin toss because Pennington is a very up-and-down fighter. Sometimes she's really sharp and looks untouchable. Other times, she's tight and gets picked apart. I'd go Pennington by decision, but it's a toss-up.

Neil Magny vs Mike Mallott: Neil Magny's been around so long, he went from being a "new age" prospect to a "grizzled journeyman" before our eyes. He's got good everything, particularly top control on the mat. But he's never made the leap to contention. Mallott is new age Team Alpha Male, and has looked fantastic in his first few fights...against very weak competition.

So this fight tells us if Mallott's the real deal, and I don't really know. I'm rooting for Mallott, only because it makes things more interesting.

The real main and co-main event:
Chris Curtis vs Marc Andre-Barriault: This is one of the FotN contenders. Marc Andre has always had a bit of a "kill or be killed" style with impressive striking to back it up. Chris Curtis is a Sean Strickland clone that keeps getting robbed in decisions. Both guys strike, they hate going backwards, Curtis is sharp and Marc Andre's explosive.

I lean toward Curtis winning this, but it should be a hell of a scrap.

Arnold Allen vs Movsar Evoloev: This is the other FotN contender. Arnold Allen is REALLY GOOD. He went 9-0 in the UFC before running into a Max Holloway beating. He's got fast, powerful hands and good grappling backed by strong scrambling. Ditto all that stuff for Evoloev, with less power but better grappling. Evoloev is 17-0, with a sustained M1 title reign before he made the UFC.

These guys are both a step away from the top of the class aka Volk/Topuria/Holloway. I stan Arnold Allen, so I'm biased.

Prelim Bangers:
The free portion is surprisingly good. The names aren't big but the fights should be SCRAPS!
- Brad Katona's the only guy to win TUF twice. His opponent, I don't know well enough to comment. Which typically means bet on the guy UFC wants to push for winning TUF.

- Charles Jourdain and Sean Woodson aren't top-tier prospects or anything. But they're really good and VERY entertaining. They show up to scrap, and generally aim to inflict damage rather than just score points. I like Woodson in this one.

- Gillian Robertson has the most submissions in UFC Women's history. She even beat peak Rose Namajunas in a strictly grappling match. She's fighting Polyana Viana whose famous for beating up a guy that tried to rob her with a fake gun and making him sit on the curb until police arrived. Both women have been middling UFC fighters, but that should make for a competitive fight. If you pick Robertson, she pretty much ONLY wins by submission.

[HarthorneWingo]

I don’t recall seeing Evoloev fighting in the UFC. Is this his first fight for the organization!